I’m surprised Craig Sager’s hair stayed on his head after that splash. At least I’m hoping that “bad hair” is a rug.

btimmer

The Dodgers played 23 different players in four games. Everybody but Federowicz and Nolasco. The Braves got all 25 players into games, with Paul Janish and Jordan Schafer making cameos in the 8th last night.

John – just curious – half the time I get the sense you are an ex-pat of the USA now living in Aus who has been following the Dodgers for many years, and the other half of the time I get the sense you have lived in Aus your whole life and for some reason became a big MLB/ Dodgers fan – which is it, if you don’t mind me asking?
Also – I know the Dodgers are opening next season in Aus but (for no particular reason) I never imagined MLB was popular over there, but I’m guessing it is?

John_from_Aus

Australia my whole life, became a big Dodgers fan around 88, I think during the season. Stayed up all night to watch them clinch the world series. The world series was the only games we would see on TV in Australia. I used to follow results and standing in our newspapers.
Came over to you in 91 to see 2 games at Dodger Stadium (as well as 2 at Fenway) and was completely hooked.
Australians are sports mad, will follow anything and it’s getting more popular (both Sydney games are sold out I think).
Our nation wide league has come back strong after many years away.
I played 2 seasons (catcher first season, pitcher the next), but life got too busy to continue (and I got older)

ASW1

Awesome, John – I love to hear about hardball being played and appreciated around the globe – in my mind it is far and away the best team sport ever invented. Glad you were able to make it to DS and Fenway – two of the cathedrals of the sport. Thanks for sharing.

John_from_Aus

Thanks, it was awesome at DS even though we lost both games (to the Cubs and Phillies) Experienced the thrill of a walkoff win at Fenway.

foul tip

John–

Don’t know if you’d have any interest in pursuing this. But a few years back there was at least one other DTer from Down Under–and, IIRC, one from NZ.

They were pretty active a while. There may have been one or two more.

Dunno how far back at DT you can search (Jon or Bob T would), or if you’d have any luck connecting if you tried.

Best case–and a long, longshot–you all might meetup in Aus when the Dodgers are there next year. A DT gathering down under would be remarkable.

At one time there was sort of a map with locations of DTers pinned. Surprising how many countries and how far-flung they were. IIRC, among them were Israel and England, and some US military in the Middle East, along with Aus and NZ. Likely I’m leaving out others.

thescrounger

I expect that was a Frapper Map.

NoahUCLA

On a little bit of a flipside to the Dodgers’ use of Kershaw, if I’m a Tigers fan, then I’m upset if they go home with Scherzer sitting on the bench in game 4. You have Verlander set up for game 5, use Scherzer tonight and put it all on the table and win or lose with your best guys on the diamond. Unless Scherzer has some arm issues I don’t know about, or some history of bad outings on 3 days rest.

ASW1

So being down 1-2 and facing elimination, rather than being up to 2-1 makes all the difference? I tend to agree.

And just because Uribe bailed Mattingly (and the Dodgers brass) out of the decision to use Kershaw on short rest doesn’t make it the *right* decision in some people’s minds.

Don’t get me wrong – I am ecstatic that the Dodgers won and Kershaw looked sharp – even sharper than he looked in game 1 on regular rest – but if Uribe didn’t hit that BOMB and the Dodgers went on to lose last night, don’t think for a second that the hand-wringing and doomsday talk, let alone the uproar (deserved or not) for Mattingly’s head would not be overflowing today.

NoahUCLA

Will Leyland hear it for not throwing Scherzer if the Tigers lose? I think Mattingly would’ve been screamed at if Nolasco pitched and lost also, especially if Kershaw didn’t win game 5 on the road after that. So, I think he’s gotten used to the fact that he’s going to get screamed at no matter what if they lose. Of course with a 200 million payroll comes expectations, fair or not.

rumped6

That’s a typical win-at-=all-costs mentality, which is embraced by most Americans, most folks everywhere, apparently.
Some of us hold tight the notion that these really are just games, and not very important in

larger contexts, but a good place to examine, evolve, and embrace better possibilities in
those larger contexts.
Ricky and Feds made contributions during the season. Find out if they can continue that

at prize time. This is a team sport, not golf or tennis. Be brave enough to test the “team.”
And, by the way, not risk injury to “stars.”

Bob_in_Vegas

I agree with avoiding injuries, but I disagree with the idea that just because you’re on the team, you should see equal playing time.

That’s not to negate the contributions of Nolasco — the #5 or 4 starter . . . nor FedEx (sorry, KT), the backup catcher. They each had tremendous contributions.

It IS a game but it’s also a business. A sales team is going to put forth their best when they are making a vital pitch. A surgeon surrounds him/herself with the best team possible (especially when under intense scrutiny), not just anyone that happens to be on staff. A broadcast entity goes with what they consider their best at playoff time. And so on . . .

So the starters start. And if/when called upon, I hope the reserves deliver, as they have during the year — they will all share in the glory of this team’s accomplishments!

NoahUCLA

Of course avoiding injuries is #1. I think the staff and doctors all agreed on that. There is no evidence though to suggest that pitching once on short rest makes any difference for injuries. On the other hand, I heard Towers’ idiotic statement that the Diamondbacks need to take out more Dodgers next year and deliberately hit them with pitches. That is a crazy, unnecessary injury risk that should not be part of the game. 95 mph with a fastball can and does cause concussions, broken jaws and can end a career easily. Why would deliberately aiming to hurt another person be ok in this game in the 21st century. Even if you are a purist. Even at its worst steroids did not endanger another person, nor did stealing signs and they both warrant big time penalties. Why wouldn’t deliberately hitting another player? I hope they fine Towers big time.

btimmer

I doubt Towers will face any repercussions from his statements from the Commissioner’s Office. The public perhaps, but not MLB. Towers is part of the Boys Will Be Boys Club and generally immunized against this.

Apparently Kershaw, Mattingly, Honeycutt and Colletti, got together in a room Sunday night to decide and discuss whether he would pitch last night. To be a fly on the wall in that one would’ve been fun. Also, I didn’t realize Preston Mattingly was Kershaw’s roomate in the minors. Apparently, Don Mattingly and Kershaw are very close, even outside of baseball. Wonder if Preston got in on the discussion with his dad at all?

ASW1

Well, I’m sure Jon will eventually have a post about the NLCS roster, but I’ll open the discussion early.

With both Paco and Belisario being ineffective would it be wise for the Dodgers to replace both with Marmol and Volquez? With Ryu being ineffective, and Nolasco a question mark, having both Cap and Volquez in the ‘pen as two long-men options might be a good idea. Or, they could drop Paco and Dee, or Paco and SVS to add Marmol and Volquez.

http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

I’ve thought about this, but I don’t know if you can argue that Marmol would be more reliable than Paco and Belisario. Same with Volquez and the starters.

I don’t see Gordon or Van Slyke being dropped.

ASW1

I didn’t mean to imply that Volquez would be taking a start from either Ryu or Nolasco – simply that if Ryu needed Cap to come in for 3 innings again, that Volquez would then be available as emergency long-man in Nolasco’s start. Not saying that this is likely, but I heard somewhere that ONE of the reasons Kershaw was bumped up to start on 3 days rest was because Cappy had already been used in Ryu’s start and was unavailable if Nolasco were to falter.

WBBsAs

Mármol has been better than expected, but still untrustworthy with runners on base.

Bob_in_Vegas

Even tho I was glad Ryu was pulled when he was, I’m not giving up on him. (Tho another reason I hope Pittsburgh wins is so I get to see Zack instead of Ryu again.)

Casey Barker

Who would be the fourth outfielder?

https://www.facebook.com/kmt59 KT

Damn it’s going to be a long wait until Friday…at least it’s more time for Dre to heal

ASW1

He looked pretty good running to 1st last night, but of course, he didn’t have to round the bag…

https://www.facebook.com/kmt59 KT

yea that’s what’s holding him back

NoahUCLA

I heard him interviewed yesterday, and he seemed optimistic about being able to be out there in Center on Friday. It’s probably no coincidence that the doctors also said it would take about 4 weeks to heal enough to be able to resume full baseball activities and he got injured on September 13.

West Coast Ram

Nothing like being young and wealthy in LA!!!!

TPruett

Between now and Friday, Im sure Mattingly is going to the park every day, hoping against hope some random individual will come up to the plate and just start laying down sacrifice bunts. He’ll be in heaven.

http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/ Linkmeister

Here’s a very sarcastic letter from a Braves fan to his Congressman trying to get the results of last night’s game overturned.

I’m not commenting on the politics, but I’m amused by this.

ASW1

Love it.

Bumsrap

Puig has looked poised, confident, experienced. The world is watching and Puig is playing like a pro.

ASW1

Totally agree – except for that soccer slide tackle he tried to put on that ball in the corner last night.

WBBsAs

That was a very difficult chance. Probably no rightfielder in the game can cut that off.

Jack Dawkins

I love the article about his cliches in his interviews. The best was when asked about Ryu he praised him saying, “He helped us win by not giving up more runs.”

http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

So many great pictures in that collection. So much happiness. May it continue, but may we remember these moments–always.

And very glad for you (and jealous) that you were there in person, Jon!

What a rollercoaster ride that game was. If they’d lost mostly because of one very poor defensive inning, that would’ve been a big bummer (needless to say).

Vive le Jazz Hands!

http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

PS: Peter Gammons (@pgammo) : Sandy Koufax is so into this Dodger team that he told Don Mattingly that if they play Red Sox is WS he's going to Boston. Sandy, Kershaw…

http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/ Linkmeister

Oh, you disappoint me. I thought Sandy was volunteering to start if needed. 😉

http://underdog.typepad.com/ underdog

Haha, I think he purposely wrote it like that. 😉 I’d love to see him throw out a first pitch though.

Is it safe to assume we’ll get Vin on the radio in the NLCS for innings other than 4-6? I don’t find Rick and Charley any better than the TBS crew, but I’ll rush to simulcast the radio for Vin.

WBBsAs

That’s what I’ll do, and it’s notable that Vin was doing a stealth simulcast the last three innings on Monday.

SaMoDodger

By stealth, do you mean slowing down his delivery so it was more in synch with the TBS broadcast? As the game went on, I thought that might be the case.

WBBsAs

Exactly. I got the feeling he was monitoring the TV monitor, and adjusting his narration to what it showed.

http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

PRESS RELEASE: As part of the continuous effort to encourage our fans to
utilize all modes of transportation to mitigate traffic flow, the Los Angeles
Dodgers will be offering fans free general parking during the postseason if
they have four or more passengers in their car.

“We know we had a parking issue during our recent National
League Division Series win against Atlanta,” said Renata Simril, Senior
Vice-President, External Affairs. “We
parked more than 20,000 cars and several hundred fans were unable to park at Dodger
Stadium last Monday night. We reached
our capacity and some fans without parking passes were directed off-site. We were very sorry about inconveniencing
these fans and felt we needed to do something to address this problem.

“We urge all of our fans to rideshare or carpool and examine
all alternative transportation methods to do their part. We hope our fans will take advantage of our
free parking offer with four or more fans in a vehicle in hopes of reducing our
traffic flow and the number of cars at Dodger Stadium. We want our fans to have a memorable
experience during the postseason.”;

As Dodger Stadium will be at maximum capacity for all
postseason games, fans are also urged to arrive earlier than ever to avoid
traffic delays and parking concerns.
Parking gates and turnstiles will open three hours prior to ALL
postseason game times.

Earlier this season, the Dodgers partnered with LA Metro for
the fourth consecutive year to offer the Dodger Stadium Express bus
service. This year the Dodgers added a
dedicated bus lane on Sunset Boulevard from Union Station to Elysian Park
Avenue, which further expedites the ride for fans. Dodger game day tickets will
be honored as payment to ride the bus service and the shuttle will operate
three hours before each postseason game until 90 minutes after each game.

Fans are encouraged to use the many transportation
alternatives that serve Union Station and that will connect them to the new
Dodger Stadium Express. For specific route and schedule information fans can
visit http://www.metro.net or call 323.GO.METRO.

btimmer

Good thing I bought single tickets for the LCS!

NoahUCLA

I used the dodger express from union station and it was easy. I recommend it if you can use it. The dedicated bus lane saved time and they drop you right in front of the stadium.

Onlyatriple

what was it like leaving the game? I decided not to use the shuttle out of concern that it would take an hour to get a shuttle back from the stadium after the game

NoahUCLA

It was easy. There was a line, but they had about 10 buses in line waiting to pick people up, so it went fast and in 5 minutes I was on a bus. It was fast getting to the buses too, because they were right outside the stadium.

If they had won the division, would there have been a peep out of him?

WBBsAs

Pitching, in my opinion, is a mix of intimidation and deception. I have no objection to throwing inside, so long as your control is good enough to avoid hurting the opposing batter. I recall Pedro Martínez, pitching in a situation where a sac fly would have won the game, knocked down Matt Williams with one pitch and then struck him out with a breaking ball away. The Dodgers won the game, at Candlestick, in extra innings.

Bumsrap

If Mattingly turns out to be the Jerry West of Managers, maybe the Dodgers will hire him to replace Colletti.

I like the fact that the Dodgers get to have Greinke and Kershaw start games 1 and 2 on the road in St Loo – Ryu and Nolasco have a better chance of performing well at DS in front of the adoring home crowd.